St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1887-02-26
CURIOUS SPECULATION.
a Frse Negro Sold Into Slavery Time and
Again ut His Own Request.

Again ut His Own ReQuest.
| Sitting at the Grand Hotel one even-
ing. heard one Of the strange>t Ne
mances Of modern times-slrangc. be-
cause it was true. How do know Il
was true? Well. the man who told it i,
| one of OhiO's wealthiest citizens and a
man who does not tell what he is una
bic to substantiate. But to the story.
As near as now remember it ran as
follows:
In l847 was steward on the Golden
Age, one Of the finest passenger boats
| that piled between Cincinnati and New
Orleans. 1t was i'm the days before rail-
roads and kilograms and when slavery
was at its prime. Well. one day a
strapping negro entered my Office. Just
as we were about to sail. and asked me
how Fwould like to go into a specnla-
ton with him that wonld make us a
good deal of money. Twas young then
and willing to do most any thing to
make money that was honest, and l told
him to proceed with his proposition.
''Well." he said. lit is as follows: lsam
as likely negro as can be found in
these parts. l am free man. What l
want to do is for you to take me to New
Orleans and sell me into slavery. am
worth $1.5OO. You sell me and I'll do
what is right with you" His PROPOSE
tion took my breath away at first. it wa:
SO startling.
"Do you want to 60 back into slav-
ery?" asked. astonished.
mo. indeed. l does not" he an.
swercd.
..And vet you want to be sOld?'
..Sure. sir, but Use a likely nigger,
and I'll soon bc back on your hands
again"
l reasoned with the fellow in vain.
He knew of no way of making money
so easily as being sold. l hesitated To
appear i'm the role If slave dealer.
was opposed to slavery. but rs thought
over the subject l concluded there
would be nothing wrong in selling the
man, and at the last moment yielded to
his wishes and took him with me. Upon
arriving mt New Orleans l at once pro-
ceeded to the slave market, which. in
1917. was one Of the principal business
places in the city. l made my object
known. and the next afternoon l was
informed the sale would take place.
gave Charley (that was his first name)
into the custody Of the brokers. and
left the market. You can rest assured
that was on hand early the mex; day.
and when Charley appeared | hardly
knew him. He had been dressed up in
a new plantation suit and had u smart
cap on his head. His sleeves and
trousers were turned up. The bidding
was lively, and you can imagine
my feelings. perhaps. as l saw
a human creature sold like horse. and
knowing was responsible for it. The
auctioneer would run Charley up and
down the street like horse. and the
planters would feel Of his arms and
legs and ankles to see If there were any
blcmishes. When $l,4OO was bid the
man was declared sold to prominent
plaussr, who gave me $1,000 in cash
and mortgage for the rest. can tell
you it was not with the pleasantest feel
ings that started out on the return
trip. after having sid fellow creature
into slavery. Well, to make long
story short, on the third or fourth trip
after that was awakened one night by
tap on my state-room door. and was
astonished to find Charley waiting on
the outside. took him down the river
with me and again sold him at Vicks-
burg. A month later he turned up
again, and sold him at private sale
on the boat. Months rolled on, and l
had sold Charles at nearly every port
on the river, and then commenced to
trade him off and get boot money.
would then tell the slaves
traded for. or give them their liberty.
whichever they preferred. but as my
slaves were nearly all old men. they
chose to be resold. was doing thriv-
ing business in the slave line and had
quite a name on the river. At the end
of the year the mortgages began to fall
due and l collected them with great
regularity. think sold Charley fifteen
times in all. and we divided $500 or
CSC, 900 between us as the result of our
business. As selling an escaped slave
was against the law, and 1 had sold
Charley fifteen times, we had to end our
profitable investment"
What became Of Charley?" asked his
friend.
He went to Canada for awhile. was
married and had quite q family. His
name is Charley Fields, and he is now
living ia Indiana, and is a barber by
occupation. What he did with his money
l do not know. but there are no times
now like the old Ones.' and the speaker
softly chuckled to himself as the story
was ended. Cincinnati Commercial Ga
zcue.
in the schOOl-bOOks Of a generation
still young vast tract Of territory west
Of the Missouri river was known rs the
Great American desert" and the man.
ner in which that supposed sterile area
has been transformed into profitable
grazing regions and has even been COW
cred with fertile farms and gardens is
one of the most remarkable achieve
meisfs of American enterprise during